Finally, An Indian Study To Find Answers To Cell Phone Health Hazards

One day we read about a study linking mobile usage to cancerdefine, depressiondefine and next day another study comes up contradicting the earlier findings. In today’s world when you can find mobile users in every nook and corner of the city, one needs a solid answer to the potential health hazards caused by the cellular phone.

Taking the first step forward, the Federal Health ministry of India has ordered to conduct the country’s first largest study on the effects of radio frequency radiations (RFR) emitted from mobile phones.

The study will be conducted jointly by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)'s School of Environmental Sciences and the 3 departments of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Nearly 40,000 participants will take part in the five year long study.

The researchers will study the effects of RFR’s on human reproductive system including hormonal changes and menstrual cycle in females and the male reproductive functions and male reproductive tracts such as fertility.

The new detailed study will look at the absorption rate of RFD’s by human body when an individual is engaged in cell phone conversation. The study will bring to light, the impact of mobile phones in the Indian context and help the government regulate the usage of mobile phones.

In 2002, a major study was carried out by researchers in Finland who found that radiationdefine from cell phones causes changes in the brain. The latest study by Dr. Vini Khurana, an Australian neurosurgeon, reveals that using handsets for more than 10 years can double the risk of brain cancerdefine, while a Swedish study suggests that, using a mobile phone for more than 15 minutes could lead to headaches and fatigue.

Now look at contradictory studies: In year 2006, a Danish study found that there was no direct link between tumour risk and mobile phone usage among short term users or long term users. Similarly, another Japanese study published in the British Journal of Cancer came out with the similar results.

Within a short period of time the Indian cell phone market has boomed and at present the total cell population is 246 million, making the country second only to China. By the end of 2008, at least three-quarters of India's population is expected to be covered by a mobile network. Leave alone rich entrepreneurs in the country, people from lower socio-economic class such as rickshaw drivers, milkman, and housemaids have a pair of cell phones in their hands.

People in India are not only using cell phones for just talking and texting but now it has become an entertainment tool such as downloading and sharing music and watching videos and hence, this is in fact an applauded step taken by the Indian government.